novelno Chapter 717 : Chapter 717
Chapter 717 : Chapter 717
Chapter 717: Body Cultivation Is Unavoidable
Accompanied by the spatial layer being violently torn and pierced by an unreasonable force, it traversed the Void and penetrated into the Core Realm of the Main World.
The terrifying spatial fluctuations attracted many Transcendent Witches to leave their laboratories and poke their heads out to observe.
However, the Transcendent Witches, having experienced the Void Crack penetration of Grand Spellbooks several times, were highly sensitive to this fluctuation.
Yet, this scale… was still far from the level of a Grand Spellbook.
However, the space in the experimental area had been specially reinforced and encrypted, and many Witches could not perceive which one had caused the commotion.
In the end, they had no choice but to return.
And at this moment.
In the laboratory where I was, Yi Rui and her team had already retreated to the corner, while Belica and a collective of mentors shielded them, their eyes intently focused on the scene before them.
The object of their focus… was the Totem!
It must be said that even as knowledgeable Transcendent Witches, it didn't mean they had much insight into the Totem, especially this kind of Self-Enlightened Totem, which was impossible for them to master.
And the Totems they studied and learned seemed incredibly fragile compared to this one.
In the center of the laboratory, protected by special spatial reinforcement equipment, I was constantly surrounded by unique patterns that were distinctly different from runes.
This was the Totem "displayed" by my Self-awakened Body Cultivation power, and I was continuously using it as a medium to reveal the other half of the Totem belonging to Self-generating Magic Power.
But due to my lack of understanding of the Totem, every action I took was extremely cautious.
Yet, the more careful I was, the more the Totem would continuously tear open Void Rifts once it was displayed.
So, I could only continuously borrow the power of the Domain to protect myself, preventing it from harming me.
This seemingly simple attempt took far longer than my expectation.
I originally thought one or two hours would be enough, but it wasn't until the end of the day that the Totem was considered fully revealed.
Yes, merely discovering the complete concept of the Totem.
Looking at the Totem that was now approaching completeness, the feeling it gave me was completely different.
When it was fully presented and left untouched, it almost never pierced the Void to create rifts.
Compared to runes, this pattern was a different concept altogether.
If a rune were in front of me, I could decipher what the rune meant.
But the Totem was more like the superficial manifestation resulting from the activation of a deeper-level effect.
To make an analogy, take a firearm for example.
The concept of a rune is like having this firearm in front of me.
I can see the firearm's parameters.
With in-depth research, I can even know the dimensions of its parts.
I can even deduce the manufacturing process from these dimensions, and after assembly, I understand that it can fire a bullet, causing penetrating kinetic damage, and so on.
A rune is such a cognitive pathway; any parameter, dimension, effect, or even inferable efficacy can be expressed by a rune.
Therefore, by imitating and learning the rune, one can similarly manufacture this firearm.
The information displayed by the Totem, however, is: the decibel of the sound when the firearm is cocked, the range of the blast when the bullet is fired, the brightness of the flame from the muzzle, and the number of spent casings ejected to the side.
This is also a cognitive pathway for the firearm, analogous to the Totem's pattern effect.
But this cognitive pathway is meaningless to learn; one cannot manufacture a gun even after learning it.
Therefore… the Totem is a pathway to cognize the firearm from a different perspective after one has already mastered the skill of making a gun!
This is why there are such clever analogies as comparing runes and totems to different language translations.
They are actually the same.
"Xiao Han, can I record the lines of this Totem?"
Mentor Belica asked at this moment, her tone carrying a hint of a request.
"Of course."
I nodded, then looked at the mentors who were staring intently.
"But I still have to remind you, recording this pattern is meaningless."
"It's fine, it's fine. We're just recording it to enrich our knowledge."
"Alright then."
I nodded, allowing them to record it.
And I, myself, sank my mind into the Totem's perspective.
After revealing this complete Totem, my understanding of the Totem, even with the earlier "firearm example," was merely the most superficial way of cognizing it.
But more things that could not be expressed in language reverberated in my mind.
I discovered that the deeper my cognition of Self-awakened Body Cultivation and Self-generating Magic Power became, the deeper my understanding of the Totem also became!
So this was the correct way to learn and understand the Totem!
One could not directly learn the Totem; instead, one had to learn the things outside the Totem.
The deeper one's cognition of a certain subject, the more profound the meaning expressed by the Totem became.
This is like seeing a painting that is very beautiful, with a very aesthetic artistic conception.
If I want to learn this artistic conception, I cannot just learn the artistic conception.
The correct path of learning should be: learning basic drawing, learning composition, learning coloring, learning expression, learning brushstrokes…
Instead of learning the artistic conception.
The Totem is roughly based on this principle.
The more solidly one learns these "fundamentals," the closer the artistic conception one expresses will be to what one desires.
The Totem is like this.
It is merely a final artistic conception, the resultant outcome, not the pathway of learning.
And the Totems learned through that kind of method are just individual cases, analogous to… tracing.
But tracing without fundamentals is ultimately no match for the original artwork with deep heritage and foundation.
So, with just this single realization, I gained a cognition of the Totem that others could not understand.
But if I wanted to express it, I could only do so through analogies and metaphors in a way that others could understand.
Since no one else could teach me in the field of Totems, I was fully qualified to define these cognitions myself.
After all, these cognitions were serving me, so I could define them as I liked.
Thus, I divided the learning stages of the Totem into two: fundamentals and extension.
Fundamentals are like learning to draw.
Only when the fundamentals are solidly established can one draw whatever they want; this is the perfection of the fundamentals.
It is also the beginning of the extension.
And the extension is the artistic conception.
Only with sufficient aesthetic sense can one create the desired artistic conception.
To take my Self-awakened Body Cultivation as an example: the deeper my cognition of Self-awakened Body Cultivation, the closer I get to the perfect domination of Self-awakened Body Cultivation.
At this stage, my understanding of the Totem power of Self-awakened Body Cultivation will also be profoundly deep.
At that time, the power I would use with Self-awakened Body Cultivation would not only be the original power of Body Cultivation but also the added power of the Totem.
Currently, my cognition of Self-awakened Body Cultivation is limited to physical strength, the fundamentals of the Five Senses Enhancement, Heart Sense, and a Time Sense Prototype.
But having the cognition of these abilities, my understanding of the Totem also includes this aspect.
If I don't pursue the perfection of power, then my current power can also be augmented by the Totem.
However… I should not be focusing my attention on Self-awakened Body Cultivation right now, but on Self-generating Magic Power.
My cognition of Self-generating Magic Power is still stuck at the stage of "Magic Power generating itself," which is as simple and clear as its name suggests.
This model seems completely different from Self-awakened Body Cultivation, as the scope covered by Self-awakened Body Cultivation is much broader than Self-generating Magic Power.
This model made me think of… the Resurrection Spell.
It also led me to a conjecture.
That is, could Self-generating Magic Power itself be Self-awakened Body Cultivation, or a part of Body Cultivation?
But this ability was separated and defined, which is why it is called Self-generating Magic Power; otherwise, it cannot explain why the effect of Self-generating Magic Power is so singular.
Moreover, it was initially architected upon Self-awakened Body Cultivation.
This model is like the Resurrection Spell!
The Resurrection Spell is absolutely the prototype spell; any Resurrection Spell derivative Spell is centered around this Spell.
You can say the Resurrection Spell is garbage, but you cannot mock its developmental potential.
My Self-awakened Body Cultivation back then was like the Resurrection Spell—it was the prototype, possessing no specific characteristics, merely a qualification.
But after I mastered Self-awakened Body Cultivation, through exploration and experimentation, I then discovered that I could absolutely dominate my own body.
This then led to the Five Senses Enhancement advancement channel under Big Sis Bai’s influence, followed by the Heart Sense Domain and Time Sense…
These were all born with Self-awakened Body Cultivation as the prototype and foundation.
It is similar to those derivative Resurrection Spells: Metamorphic Incubation, Reincarnation Spell, Incubation Derivation, and so on—these all use the Resurrection Spell as a prototype.
Even though these derivative Resurrection Spells are independent of the Resurrection Spell, their underlying architecture is inseparable from the Resurrection Spell.
The Resurrection Spell is the "sole prototype" within the Resurrection Domain Spells.
Those derived Spells with independent resurrection effects are like… Self-generating Magic Power.
It separated itself from Self-awakened Body Cultivation!
This feeling is like the Resurrection Spell adding an extra "delay technique" and then deriving the "Self-Resurrection Spell."
Self-awakened Body Cultivation must have also had a certain Magic Power-related technique added to it to give birth to Self-generating Magic Power.
Don't forget that there is another project within the Witch Projects, and that is the Magic Power Project!
The concept of Magic Power was not classified as a fundamental alongside the concept of Self-generating Magic Power but was listed separately as a project, indicating that it is a special technique.
Similarly, the Body Cultivation practiced by the Beast-people must have integrated a certain technique, allowing them to cultivate "Blood Qi."
This suggests that the foundational "Body Cultivation Energy" of Body Cultivation should be considered a system formed from the most basic "Force Generation Technique."
With so many examples, I can reasonably guess that Self-generating Magic Power is a power system that was generated by "Self-awakened Body Cultivation + Magic Power Technique," and was then stripped away.
And this stripping was quite thorough; they lowered the threshold of "Self-awakened Body Cultivation" to "Body Cultivation."
Even now, the threshold of Body Cultivation remains unavoidable.
However, the path of Witchification Body Cultivation is already a well-designed route.
Advancing to Transcendent grants the "Self-generating Magic Power" gift package.
So I realized that obsessing over the concept of Witchification no longer had any meaning.
I either bypass Witchification, or Witchification can only serve as assistance, but it absolutely cannot become the main force.
Regardless, the path of Body Cultivation is unavoidable.
"Xiao Han, did you gain anything?"
At this moment, seeing that I had calmed down and the power of the Totem was gradually retracting, Belica also stepped forward to ask.
"Mhm, quite a bit. I understand many things now."
I also nodded, pushing away the stabilizing equipment around me.
At this moment, Yi Rui and her team also emerged from behind Mentor Belica and her team.
"That's wonderful news. Oh right, Xiao Han, are you hungry? You've been at it for so long, and I haven't seen you eat anything. I ordered delivery, and I'll send someone to pick it up now."
"Thank you, I am indeed hungry."
I nodded.
With that said, I also realized my exhaustion was immense.
I had plenty of emergency food in my Storage Equipment, but compared to delivery food, there was no contest.
Of course, I chose delivery!
After a short wait, a figure rushed to the laboratory door.
It was a student participating in this experiment.
Although I hadn't spoken much to them, it seemed they were quite fast at running errands, after all, food delivery couldn't enter this experimental area.
There was a lot of food, almost one serving for everyone.
"Eating delivery food in a laboratory, my first experience."
"Yeah, I vaguely remember the last time I ordered delivery and ate it at the lab door, I was scolded by the mentor."
"Is that so? Then do you still remember how I scolded you then?"
At this moment, the mentor of the Teaching Assistant who had complained walked up behind them and asked.
"Um? I… I, I, Mentor, I wasn't speaking ill of you!"
"I've decided. After you finish eating, you will be the one to clean up. If I smell even a tiny bit of residual odor when you are done, you're finished, understand? The laboratory must maintain absolute cleanliness! Do you know how many odor molecules permeated the laboratory the moment you opened your delivery box? You should be grateful that this is Xiao Han's laboratory; if it were mine…"
"I understand, I understand!"
After this person was scolded, we happily enjoyed this meal, which should be called a late-night snack.
In fact, laboratories have many rules, but whether they are followed depends on the experimenters.
After all, there are trade-offs between personal habits and rules, and furthermore, for Witches who possess Transcendent power and Spells, cleaning up extraneous matter is just a matter of a single Spell.
"Oh right, I'm curious to ask, have you ever engaged in Body Cultivation?"
I sat amidst the group while eating and tilted my head to ask.
"Body Cultivation? Never tried it. It seems very strenuous, so I didn't learn it."
"Me neither. I'm more interested in Spells."
The people present, including Yi Rui and her team, all answered my question.
Without exception, none of them had engaged in Body Cultivation, at most only going to the gym to maintain their figure.
"Actually, I suggest you change your perspective. Body Cultivation is also a path to explaining the Transcendent," I suggested.
"Since it's your suggestion, Xiao Han, I can definitely allocate some time to try it out."
Yi Rui spoke, and with Yi Rui's declaration, others also agreed.
"But I'm very curious, Xiao Han, why are you suddenly asking us to try Body Cultivation?"
"Well… it's a bit complicated to explain to you, but to be direct, after continuous exploration, I always find that the ability of Self-generating Magic Power is inseparable from the threshold of Body Cultivation," I explained.
"So, if we want to proceed with the research on Self-generating Magic Power, it would be best for all of you to gain some exposure to the power of Body Cultivation."
"Inseparable?"
"But many Transcendent Witches don't engage in Body Cultivation, yet they gain Self-generating Magic Power after advancing to Transcendent Witch," someone questioned at this point.
"Then have you ever considered that one of the processes for advancing to Transcendent Witch, the so-called Witchification process, is actually another type of special Body Cultivation system?"
I counter-questioned.
"Ah? Witchification… Body Cultivation?!"
"Yes, Witchification is indeed a manifestation of Body Cultivation. Otherwise, why do you think one's physical quality is enhanced the deeper the degree of Witchification? It's just that the Body Cultivation of Witchification isn't the kind of Body Cultivation you perceive."
It was Belica who spoke at this moment, settling the matter and saving me a lot of explanation.
This was the "authority" that came from the mentors.